Surfacing materials have been used in the building industry for a number of decorative and functional purposes for years. Natural and manmade surfacing material has been used to provide decorative and/or durable surfaces upon countertops, floors, tub and shower enclosures, partitions, and building facades. For example, often it is desirable to provide a durable, e.g., water and/or heat resistant, surface which is decorative as a kitchen countertop.
Natural stone has been widely accepted as an attractive and durable surfacing material, such as for use in the aforementioned kitchen countertop. Specifically, a large slab of natural stone, such as marble or granite, may be cut to the dimensions of a kitchen countertop to provide a smooth, attractive, and durable surface. However, such a slab generally is required to be relatively thick, such as on the order of 1⅛th inch (approximately 3 cm) thick in order to provide sufficient resistance to breaking. Slabs of such material are typically very expensive as well as very heavy and difficult to handle. For example, the weight of a typical slab utilized in a kitchen countertop application will require at least 2 installers to handle the material, further adding to the costs associated therewith. Moreover, fabrication of a desired surface may require relatively large cutouts to be formed in the slab, such as to accommodate a kitchen sink or a built-in range, creating areas at which such a slab is prone to breakage even with slabs of 1⅛th inch thickness.
The use of such slabs in vertical facades is problematic because of their weight and the way in which they are typically attached to the supporting structure. Accordingly, smaller slabs, such as on the order of 2 feet by 2 feet, have been used in providing commercial facades. Although applied in a tile pattern, such smaller slabs are generally not considered as tiles. Specifically, as with the larger slabs discussed above, the 2 by 2 slabs must be relatively thick, such as on the order of 1⅛th thick or perhaps as thin as ¾th inch, to provide sufficient strength to allow handling without excessive breakage. Accordingly, such smaller slabs remain quite heavy and unwieldy for an individual to install.
A common technique for installation of such slabs involves drilling holes in the slabs for the application of copper wire tiebacks, resulting in a very time consuming and labor intensive installation process as well as a resulting surface appearance highly dependent upon the skill of the particular installer. For example, the small slabs stacked to make a commercial facade may provide a visibly uneven surface caused by slight misalignment of the face surfaces during installation.
Although much smaller pieces of natural materials, such as 12 inch by 12 inch tiles, are commonly available, such products have been generally undesirable for many surfacing applications. For example, the tiles are generally individually applied to a substrate, such as plywood, cement board, or water resistant sheet rock, using thin set or a mastic resin, trowel laid with the tile placed and spaced manually on a job site. This results in a surface which is not dead flat, is very labor intensive and highly variant depending upon the installer. Moreover, such an installation requires that a grout be applied to the tiles, to fill in the space between the tiles after it has been set with the thin set. The resulting grout lines, in addition to further contributing to the lack of a dead flat surface, are visually very apparent and are generally undesirable in many situations. For example, grout tends to stain easily and is difficult to clean. Moreover, it is difficult to keep a good solid seal from moisture with grout such that, over a period of time, water tends to leak through to the substrate and cause rotting of the subsurface and/or heaving of the tile veneer.
The use of tiles for providing surfacing does have advantages associated therewith, however. For example, because of their small size, even highly veined marble may be provided in relatively thin tiles, such as on the order of ⅜th inch. This provides for a much lighter surfacing material as compared to the aforementioned slabs of 1⅛th or ¾th inch thickness. Moreover, as less material is used, such tiles are typically much less expensive per square foot of area covered.
Accordingly, a need exists in the art for systems and methods providing durable surfaces with consistent results from installer to installer. Moreover, a need exists in the art for such surfaces to be provided with a minimum of labor and yet provide very smooth substantially dead flat surfaces.